You can find the latest issue of Today's Family magazine — inside the March issue of Today's Woman ! That's two magazin...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Community, Tradition, and Fun

We lucked out today by getting you an insider’s look into the Kentucky Derby Festival from Wendy Jacob, Chair of this year’s Festival.

There are so many wonderful events surrounding the Kentucky Derby Festival......About how many people are involved in making those happen? The Kentucky Derby Festival has a full-time staff of 23, 75 board members, and approximately 4,000 volunteers throughout the year. That’s in addition to about 375 businesses who provide different levels of sponsorship support.

Is there anything new in the Festival this year? We have several new events on our schedule this year including the Mayor’s Derby Brunch on the River on Sunday, April 29, at historic Riverside, the Farnsley-Moreman Landing, featuring traditional Kentucky fare, live riverboat jazz and tours of the property, and GospelFest on Sunday, April 29, at the Chow Wagon, featuring a gospel choir showcase and a step/dance competition. In addition to those events, we also have some new changes for a few of our traditional family favorites: The U.S. Bank Great Balloon Glow has moved back to the Kentucky Exposition Center on Friday, April 27, and the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Healthy Lifestyle Showcase will be held at the Republic Bank Parade Preview Party for the first time on Tuesday, May 1. The Healthy Lifestyle Showcase will feature a variety of free health screenings for families and children. Also new in 2012 is Kid’s Day at the $1 Million Dollar Hole-in-One Golf Contest , which will feature 2-for-1 shots for golfers under age 18 on Wednesday, April 25.

Are there any free (or low cost) events for families? Thanks to our generous sponsors, many Festival events are free for the public with a 2012 Pegasus Pin including McDonald’s Thunder Preview Party, U.S. Bank Great BalloonFest events, Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, and the Chow Wagon which features a Pegasus Play-Ville area for kids, six national concerts, Celebration Sunday and the new GospelFest, and a variety of food and other activities during its nine-day run, in addition to the Louisville Youth Orchestra Concert, Discovery Day, Stock Yards Bank Great Bed Races, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Healthy Lifestyle Showcase, and Republic Bank Parade Preview Party , just to name a few. For families on a budget, we also have a "Family Fun Pack" of Pegasus Pins, which includes 5 Pegasus Pins available at retail locations for $18.